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[Oli]

So me and my friends have decided to try and make our own Zombie film.

We've done films in the past (A short 20 minute birthday present for a friend called "Jason Hull: This is your life" which basically was all the funniest parts of his personality exxageration with some penis jokes thrown in and a spoof/horror called death at number 19) and one of us does media development in college so we have the editing side of things covered. We're currently working out the script.

So what I'd like from you talented QC people is ideas for how we could make the film seem more professional for a limited budget.

I'm talking things like:

Make-up ideas, Special effects, How to effectively create suspense, etc.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Once we get it finished (Which could be anytime within the next year or possibly longer) I think we'll post it on video google of youtube and I'll give you guys a link.

[Kirbo]

Step 1: Go buy If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B-Movie actor by Bruce Campbell.

This book is indispensible for anyone looking to start in film. Plus....well....he's Ash, and you're making a zombie flick. There's also make-up tips and such in it.

As for the actual movie, make sure you've got a good base script. I know that in horror, writing is overlooked in favour of effects, but trust me, the plot does matter.

Be creative,be inventive, and have fun.

[Oli]

Oh we're cocentrating on the script the most. We don't have much money for special effects so we NEED a decent script (and decent acting...) for us to pull it off.

Ill check out that book, thanks.

[Gryff]

minced beef makes good splatter.

[ayePod]

The old standars like corn syrup,ground up meat, small balloons filled with tomato puree (personal favourite). The Day Of The Dead rpped in half scene and the like are easy as hell to pull off so going over the top on some deaths is well worth the small effort. Good luck.

[Kirbo]

Gross sounds.....fisting any jar of anything sounds gross. Canned tomatoes for example.

Also, make sure you use the Wilhelm scream if possible. It's my favorite movie cliche.

[Bunnyman]

Don't try to shoot a Hollywood-style movie with a camcorder (or even DV).  It becomes painful to watch after a while.  Recognize your limitations and treat them as assets.  Go for more of a guerilla filmmaking style*.  Extreme camera angles will draw too much attention to the fact that you're using a camera.

* (Does not mean 'shaky handcam work.')

Try to make the actors seem natural in their settings.  Often, actors will deliver dialogue that sounds totally stilted compared to the street scene behind them, or (my favorite) talk like badass assassins while wielding $10 airsoft guns and wandering through suburbia.  On that note, try to scout some locations before shooting.

Also, unless you have really good actors, be sure to break fourth wall or somehow clue the audience in to the fact that you're just having fun.  Here's the catch:  The characters shouldn't realize they're in a film, or it all goes to hell.  Unless you're fucking David Lynch or something.

Bad Taste does all these very well, incidentally.  It should be a treatise on low-budget filmmaking that works.

Final note...Rule of Thirds.  Painful composition = bad.